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1950s Pop Culture and American Consumerism
Cole Marra and Lauren Edelsberg
● Expansion of the Middle class
● Lifestyle of leisure and affluence
American Consumerism in the 50’s
● 1948: First McDonalds stand opened in California
● 1949: Plastic credit card introduced
● 1955: Disneyland opens in Anaheim
New Novelties
● Television○ 1946: 6 TV broadcasting stations○ 1956:442 TV broadcasting stations○ 7 million sold in 1951○ 1960: In virtually every American home
The Tube
● Televangelists○ Baptist Billy Graham○ Preacher Oral Roberts○ Catholic Fulton J. Sheen
● Spread the Christian gospel on the air
Religion on TV
● Sports went West and South○ 1958: NY Giants moved to San Francisco○ 1958: Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles
■ Inspired more franchises to move away■ Led to expansion of MLB, NFL and NBA
1950’s Sports
● Popular music was drastically changed● Elvis Presley: Led revolution from pop-rock
○ White Singer from Tupelo, MI. ○ The King of Rock and Roll○ “Baby boomers” grew up listening and
watching him○ 1977: Died of fame, fortune, and primarily
drugs
50’s Music
● Marilyn Monroe○ Famous movie star○ Angered traditionalists because she was too
Sexy● Playboy Magazine
○ Enough said
New Standards of Sexuality
● There were arguments regarding both sides (pro and con)
Different Perspectives
● Middle class○ Benefited in many ways
■ easy credit● credit cards
■ cheap, high volume food● McDonalds
■ new affordable recreation activities● TV; Disneyland
Positive Prospective (Pro)
● Many people were against○ Degrading the public’s aesthetic,
social,normal, and political standards
○ Author John Kenneth Galbraith● The Affluent Society
● Prosperity produced other troubles
Negative Perspective (Con)
● It was an expansion of consumer culture○ Race, Sex and Class did not affect the
changes made
Racism, Sexism, Classism?
● Mostly middle class ○ New changes were
affordable ■ cheap food■ easy credit■ new entertainment
Group Benefits
● Started...○ The fast food industry○ Rock and roll music○ Plastic Credit cards ○ Expansion of televisions
Effect on todays’ society
● About 160,000 fast food locations in America
● About 50 million people/day consume fast food in America
● Fast food revenue $110 billion annually
Fast Food Today
● On average, people spend about 5.11 hours watching television per day
● 99% of houses have at least one tv● 65% of houses have three or more tvs● The average child watches 1,480 minutes of tv
per week (about 25 hours)
Television Today
● The American Pageant 13th Edition Page 884-885
● ABC Clio - "Timeline of Popular Culture Events, 1950s." Pop Culture
Universe: Icons, Idols, Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
○ http://popculture.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1510677?
terms=1950s+pop+culture
● Statistic Brain
○ http://www.statisticbrain.com/fast-food-statistics/
Citations